From Publishers Weekly
The notable career of the late Murrayshe died in 1985descendant of a North Carolina slave and a slave owner, who, as lawyer, teacher, poet, feminist and, lastly, Episcopalian priest, worked for social justice, unfolds in this autobiography. A pioneer in many areasthe only female in her class at Howard University Law School, the first woman to receive a J.S.D. from YaleMurray carried on her family tradition of ground-breaking paths to civil rights, while as a confidante of and goad to Eleanor Roosevelt, she presaged the activist momentum of the '50s and '60s. A founder of the National Organization for Women, she was to realize the full flowering of her own feminism through ordination to the Episcopal priesthood. Murray's memoir is an affecting expression of her indomitable spirit and quest for justice. Photographs not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This fascinating, moving autobiography reveals a little-studied voice in the modern civil rights and feminist movements. In her remarkable career, Murray, the product of a black lower-middle-class family, was a poet, essayist, lawyer, professor, civil rights advocate, and a founding member of the National Organization for Women. Before her death in 1985 she was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. A strong proponent of both black and women's rights, she remained a firm believer in an integrated society with races and sexes sharing power and opportunity even in the turbulent 1960s. Given the breadth of her contacts, she was an important figure in 20th-century social history. Highly recommended for most libraries. Anthony O. Edmonds, History Dept., Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
